The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Tuesday, June 1, confirmed the qualification of Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna for the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.
This was contained in a letter addressed to the President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), signed by the ITTF Competition Director Gabor Felegyi.
It highlighted that Aruna, who is the first African in the history of the Olympic Games to make it to the quarter-final stage of the singles event, is expected to join 85 others across the globe to compete in the men’s singles event at Tokyo Olympic Games next month.
“It is with great pleasure, I advise the qualification of Quadri Aruna to compete in the table tennis Men’s Singles event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, on the basis of World Ranking allocation according to the June 2021 ITTF Olympic Qualification Ranking,” Mr Felegyi stated.
He, however, stated that NOC is expected to confirm Aruna’s participation on or before June 16. With this development, Aruna will be making his third appearance at the Olympic Games, having featured in London 2012 and Rio 2016, and he will join his compatriots – Olajide Omotayo, Olufunke Oshonaike, and Edem Offiong to compete in the singles event in Tokyo.
Aruna stunned the world at the Rio 2016 Games in Brazil and with his performance, became the first African to reach the quarterfinal after edging out some of the best players in the world including former world number one, Timo Boll of Germany.